Patient Sympathy: 5 Ways Nurses Can Better Relate to Their Patients
Being a nurse can come with long hours, back-breaking work, and a huge emotional load. It’s easy to find yourself burned out if you don’t have the right support system in place. It can also be hard to sympathize with your patients if you are struggling yourself. If that sounds like you, it may be time to re-evaluate your self-care plan to make sure that you are taking time for yourself. Once you’re centered again, here are five ways that you can improve your ability to sympathize with your patients.
Give Them Control When Possible
Being sick in a hospital can come with significant feelings about losing control. Patients often feel that they don’t have any control over their medical care, their bodies, their meals, or even their daily schedule. As a nurse, you can help counter those feelings by providing choices and control where possible. You don’t need to have had full negotiations training to make this happen. It could be as simple as letting a patient control the television, or choose how the blinds are set, or even when they want to be woken up for a restroom break. If the cafeteria takes individual orders for meals, you could let the patient choose their food from a menu. Any little bit of control that you can provide will likely be greatly appreciated.
Provide a Calming Environment
Hospitals and other care facilities can be scary and noisy places, no matter how old your patients are. There are beeping machines, sharp needles, alarm calls, noisy roommates, and uncomfortable beds that can make it hard to properly rest. You can help your patients remain calm through your words and actions. Enter the room calmly and use a soothing voice when talking to the patient. This is especially important during the night. Do your best to not react negatively to things the patient says or does. Remember that they are likely acting out of pain and frustration, and try to help reduce their suffering.
Explain Things Clearly
Your patients may be struggling to understand what is happening to them and what their treatment plan is. As a nurse, you may find yourself having to answer a lot of questions. Explain the treatment plans and schedules to your patient, and be prepared to have to offer the same explanation multiple times. You could also write the plan out on a patient communication board, or give them a printed sheet so that they can refer to it as needed.
Help Them Feel Less Alone
Feelings of isolation are common when someone is admitted to a hospital. Even the most attentive family and friends have to leave at the end of visiting hours. As a nurse, you can help your patients feel less alone in a couple of different ways. First, you could spend time sitting and talking with them if your workload and schedule allows. If you have a high patient load, you could instead help your patient hang up photos of their loved ones or facilitate video chats with those who cannot come to visit.
Advocate for Their Wants and Needs
A final way to help sympathize with your patients is to assist them in advocating for their wants and needs. Nurses often spend the most time with patients, so you may know your patient the best out of everyone on his or her care team. Communicating things like your patient’s preferred name, pronouns, and method of address, as well as any fears or hopes that they have regarding their treatment, can help your patient feel supported and cared for. This has the added benefit of sometimes giving you a more medically compliant patient.
Nurses have a unique relationship with their patients. You may see the patient more often than the doctors and may get to know the patient better. This gives you an opportunity to sympathize with your patient. Help them understand their treatment, participate in their own care where possible, and ensure that they feel heard and supported, and you just may see some improved patient care outcomes.
